Career and Education Opportunities for Court Reporters in Visalia, California

Court reporters can find both educational opportunities and jobs in the Visalia, California area. There are currently 2,000 working court reporters in California; this should grow by 20% to 2,400 working court reporters in the state by 2016. This is better than the national trend for court reporters, which sees this job pool growing by about 18.3% over the next eight years. In general, court reporters use verbatim methods and equipment to capture, store, and transcribe pretrial and trial proceedings or other information.

The income of a court reporter is about $35 per hour or $74,180 per year on average in California. In the U.S. as a whole, their income is about $23 per hour or $49,710 yearly on average. Compared with people working in the overall category of Administration and Support, people working as court reporters in California earn more. They earn more than people working in the overall category of Administration and Support nationally. Court reporters work in a variety of jobs, including: stenotype operator, court transcriber, and freelance court reporter.

There are fifteen schools of higher education in the Visalia area, including three within twenty-five miles of Visalia where you can get a degree to start your career as a court reporter. Given that the most common education level for court reporters is an Associate's, or other 2-year degree, you can expect to spend about two years training to become a court reporter if you already have a high school diploma.

CAREER DESCRIPTION: Court Reporter

Court Reporter video from the State of New Jersey Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development

In general, court reporters use verbatim methods and equipment to capture, store, and transcribe pretrial and trial proceedings or other information. They also includes stenocaptioners who operate computerized stenographic captioning equipment to provide captions of live or prerecorded broadcasts for hearing-impaired viewers.

Court reporters ask speakers to explain inaudible statements. They also furnish transcripts of proceedings upon request of judges or the public. Equally important, court reporters have to transcribe recorded proceedings in accordance with established formats. They are often called upon to record verbatim proceedings of courts and other proceedings, using computerized recording equipment, electronic stenograph machines, or stenomasks. They are expected to take notes in shorthand or use a stenotype or shorthand machine that prints letters on a paper tape. Finally, court reporters file a legible transcript of records of a court case with the court clerk's office.

Every day, court reporters are expected to be able to listen to and understand others in meetings. It is also important that they see details at a very fine level of focus.

It is important for court reporters to verify precision of transcripts by checking copies against original records of proceedings and precision of rulings by checking with judges. They are often called upon to record depositions and other proceedings for attorneys. They also file and store shorthand notes of court session. Somewhat less frequently, court reporters are also expected to record symbols on computer storage media and use computer aided transcription to translate and display them as text.

And finally, they sometimes have to transcribe recorded proceedings in accordance with established formats.

Like many other jobs, court reporters must be reliable and be thorough and dependable.

Similar jobs with educational opportunities in Visalia include:

Legal Assistant. Assist lawyers by researching legal precedent, investigating facts, or preparing legal documents. Conduct research to support a legal proceeding, to formulate a defense, or to initiate legal action.

Title Examiner. Search real estate records, examine titles, or summarize pertinent legal or insurance details for a variety of purposes. May compile lists of mortgages, contracts, and other instruments pertaining to titles by searching public and private records for law firms, real estate agencies, or title insurance companies.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Court Reporter Training

Sierra Valley Business College - Fresno, CA

Sierra Valley Business College, 4747 N First St Bldg D, Fresno, CA 93726. Sierra Valley Business College is a small college located in Fresno, California. It is a private for-profit school with primarily 2-year programs and has 180 students. Sierra Valley Business College has a two to four year program in Court Reporting/Court Reporter which graduated thirteen students in 2008.

California State University-Fresno - Fresno, CA

California State University-Fresno, 5241 N Maple Ave, Fresno, CA 93740. California State University-Fresno is a large university located in Fresno, California. It is a public school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 22,613 students and an admission rate of 69%. California State University-Fresno has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree program in Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric which graduated 151 and five students respectively in 2008.

College of the Sequoias - Visalia, CA

College of the Sequoias, 915 S Mooney Blvd, Visalia, CA 93277-2214. College of the Sequoias is a large college located in Visalia, California. It is a public school with primarily 2-year programs and has 12,500 students. College of the Sequoias has 2 areas of study related to Court Reporter. They are:

Mass Communication/Media Studies, two to four year.

Journalism, associate's degree which graduated 3 students in 2008.

CERTIFICATIONS

Registered Professional Reporter:
The Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) program is the only nationally recognized certification program that establishes your competence as a reporter.

Certified Reporting Instructor:
The CRI certification program for teachers of court reporting subjects has been developed to encourage excellence in the educational programs that prepare tomorrow's court reporters.

LOCATION INFORMATION: Visalia, California

Visalia, California photo by Capricorn90

Visalia is situated in Tulare County, California. It has a population of over 121,040, which has grown by 32.2% in the past ten years. The cost of living index in Visalia, 87, is well below the national average. New single-family homes in Visalia are valued at $200,400 on average, which is far less than the state average. In 2008, five hundred seventy-four new homes were constructed in Visalia, down from nine hundred twenty-seven the previous year.

The three most popular industries for women in Visalia are educational services, health care, and accommodation and food services. For men, it is public administration, construction, and educational services. The average travel time to work is about 19 minutes. More than 18.9% of Visalia residents have a bachelor's degree, which is lower than the state average. The percentage of residents with a graduate degree, 6.3%, is lower than the state average.

The unemployment rate in Visalia is 10.0%, which is less than California's average of 12.3%.

The percentage of Visalia residents that are affiliated with a religious congregation, 51.8%, is more than both the national and state average. Parkside Chapel Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, Grace Lutheran Church and Holy Family Roman Catholic Church are some of the churches located in Visalia. The most prominent religious groups are the Catholic Church, the Assemblies of God and the Southern Baptist Convention.

Visalia is home to the Tulare County Juvenile Hall and the Visalia Community Center as well as Pinkham Park and Lincoln Park. Shopping centers in the area include Fairway Shopping Center, Visalia Mall Shopping Center and Towne and Country Village Shopping Center. Visitors to Visalia can choose from Best Western Visalia Inn and Blacklakecondo for temporary stays in the area.